(13) The Stories of Those Who Have Left the Fold – with Naomi Seidman, Professor, Author and Host of the Heretic in the House Podcast.

The Orthonomics Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Prof. Naomi Seidman about people leaving Orthodoxy and the related stories, experiences and misconceptions. She shares what she personally learned in leaving her Haredi community, as well as the insights of many others.

We also draw upon the 2016 study “Starting a Conversation: A Pioneering Survey of Those Who Have Left the Orthodox Community,” in which 885 people recounted their experiences, and we include some verbatim quotes from some of these people, explaining what motivated them and what they want the Orthodox community as a whole to know about their leaving.

Recommended: Prof. Seidman’s excellent limited (four episodes) podcast series, Heretic in the House, from the Shalom Hartman Institute.

A couple of very worthwhile books are:

Shulem Deen’s All Who Go Do Not Return, a National Jewish Book Award winner.

Prof. Schneur Zalman Newfield’s Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism.

In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we answer a question we are often asked … how many people are leaving Orthodoxy. We cite Rabbi Zvi Grumet’s 2018 study of high school graduates.

Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html.

Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).